


crashing down

by BlackCats



Category: Skullgirls
Genre: Drabble, Friendship, Gen, Post-Game, Vague shipping hints
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-05
Updated: 2014-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 15:25:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1271529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackCats/pseuds/BlackCats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Filia comes home to blood on the doormat, and she can only sigh.<br/>Sometimes Painwheel can barely make it through the door, and just collapses on the couch.<br/>(Filia, Painwheel, and an uncertain future.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	crashing down

When Painwheel slept, it was the kind of slumber you thought she’d never wake up from.

Filia watched her breathe from her spot in the doorway. A thin rectangle of light stretched its way across the dark, plain room and glinted off of the cruel curves of the great sawblade attached to her best friend’s back by a bony spinal cord. The Synthetic Parasite was draped across the mattress’s side, well off the bed proper, twitching like restless fingers.

Even in her sleep, mask off, Painwheel looked so _tense_. Her eyebrows were furrowed hard and she curled in on herself, breathing unevenly.

Filia swallowed nervously and crept forward into the room. Samson was asleep on her head—tendrils curled in, almost snoring; it made him feel heavier than usual when he wasn’t consciously controlling his weight. 

Mercifully, no floorboards creaked and she was able to settle herself by her friend’s side. Up close, even in the dim light, she could see what had to be dozens of scars crisscrossing her flesh. Places where Gae Bolga had burst like spikes from her skin. Places where Valentine and Brain Drain had operated. Places where Painwheel had battled and fought and clawed her way past her enemies and had emerged victorious.

Places where she had lost. Those scars were the thickest.

Filia blinked, and frowned. She could _almost_ remember something. The memory danced along the edges of her mind. Perhaps she and Carol had been at a slumber party at some point. Maybe that was why her sleeping face looked so familiar and yet…not. Not in its current state with that large, sprawling X-shaped scar and the many stitched scabs left behind by her barbed mask.

She wondered why she even wore such a thing anymore. Painwheel never answered her, and every morning it went back on.

Filia reached out a tentative hand to stroke those heavy lines across her forehead. She expected Painwheel to jump up and whir her sawblade, but instead she remained asleep. So hard and heavy it was like she was dead.

But her veins were spasming and it was impossible not to hear her ragged inhales.

…She had wanted to make a wish for her, in the end. Even if it meant being cursed by the Skull Heart one day. But Squigly had destroyed it for now and obliterated Double in the process—a job well done. Filia and Samson had given her and Leviathan a hero’s burial.

But that had left Filia with a gaping hole in her memories and a best friend who thought her life held no meaning save for vengeance. Getting a job as a waitress thanks to Yu-Wan, getting this apartment…it had all been mostly so she could offer her wayward friend a home again, though it had also let Filia try to stay true to her word and start over anew.

And Painwheel had accepted the chance to live with her; she returned at sporadic times to crash onto the bed or the sofa until she went out hunting for Valentine again. No amount of coaxing could dissuade her from her vendetta and she would not allow Filia to take part in it.

So she had to watch.

It was painful.

Watch her come back covered in new scrapes as her parasites worked to repair the damage.

Filia sighed, and this time Painwheel _did_ jolt awake.

She sprang up onto all fours as her face contorted into a snarl, red eyes flaring bright in the gloom. All the murderous anger fled her expression in an instant though as she recognized Filia. Slowly, she lowered herself back onto the bed and her sawblade went back to hanging over the edge.

Filia stroked Samson reassuringly until he muttered something about dames and went back to snoozing.

“…Filia?” Painwheel rasped, her voice as low as her rough growl allowed it to fall. “What are you doing here?”

“N-Nothing, I’m sorry. I was just checking in on you,” she replied, matching her soft tone.

“What for?”

“Well…You come back injured just about every other night…”

“That’s nothing new,” Painwheel grunted, slouching over and half-burying her face into her pillow. There were bloodstains on the bed-sheets but she didn’t seem to care.

"Um...Any luck finding Valentine?”

An aggravated mumble. “She keeps getting away from me.”

“Maybe you should take a break…”

Painwheel snarled deep in her throat and her skin began to acquire that red, heated look it did when she was really cross.

“J-Just for a little while!” Filia added hastily. “To train some more? Valentine won’t know what hit her!”

She was trying to sound encouraging. Painwheel just closed her eyes again. “Mm.”

Filia showed a sad smile after a few moments of silence had passed and it was clear that the other wasn’t going to say anything else. “Well…” She stood up. “I’m going to let you rest, okay? Sorry to bother you.”

Painwheel wrapped both of her scrawny , scarred arms around her pillow and hid her face entirely within it. Filia _just_ managed to hear her mumble, “You never bother me…” before her body went absolutely still once more.

Well. At least she was sleeping.

Backing out of the room as silently as she could, Filia pulled the door closed and rested her back against it, cautious of disturbing Samson. Turns out she needn’t have worried.

“Eh. Let her sleep on it and _maybe_ she’ll come to her senses,” the head-parasite drawled in a mocking, lazy tone.

“I should have known you were listening!”

“What are ya talkin’ about, kid? I’m asleep over here.” Samson closed his yellow eyes and resumed napping. Possibly.

Filia just chuckled and headed back to her room.

**Author's Note:**

> Consideriiing doing some more Skullgirls stories. Maybe if anyone's interested? Thanks for reading regardless!


End file.
